Centre of excellence for women farmers to come up

The Tamil Nadu Agricultural University will set up a centre of excellence for women farmers on the campus of the Horticultural College and Research Institute for Women at Navalur Kuttapattu near here in course of time.

The women farmers will be exposed to skill development programme in agriculture with a thrust on post-harvest techniques, use of bio-fertiliser and applications of bio-control agents. “It will be a knowledge centre for imparting training to women farmers and women agricultural workers,” said M. Jawaharlal, Special Officer of the Institute.

A sum of Rs.50 lakh had been allocated in the first phase towards construction of buildings.

At present, the centre is housed in an old building of the college, he told the media here on Thursday.

He said the college has taken up a special research on cultivating horticultural crops on alkaline soils such as the Manikandam block in the district where the institute is located.

“In fact, we have succeeded in cultivating guava crop in the soil, where the crop has started yielding results,” he said.

“The high density cultivation of guava has proved its success,” he said.

D. Saraladevi, Project Director of the Centre of Excellence, said training would be imparted on fresh and dry fruit arrangement, apiculture, milch animal management, raising of quality nurseries, and fruit-bearing trees.